While there has been recent progress
on Jewish consideration of environmental and vegetarian
issues, much more needs to be done. One approach
is to show how central these issues are in the
Jewish tradition. This article discusses several
statements in the Shabbat morning prayers that
point to Judaism's great concern about animals
and the environment.
In the Baruch Sheh'amar prayer,
it states that, "Blessed is the One
(God) Who has compassion on the earth; blessed
is the One Who has compassion on the creatures
[animals and people]". Since Judaism
teaches that human beings, uniquely created
in God's image, are to imitate God's positive
attributes, we should also exhibit concern
and compassion toward the earth's environment
and all of God's creatures.
God is referred to in the
Shabbat services as Rachum (the merciful
One) and as Av harachamim (Father of mercies).
Once again, as we are to imitate God, we
should be merciful. The Talmud states that
Jews are to be rachmanim b'nei rachmanim
(merciful children of merciful ancestors)
and that one who is not compassionate cannot
truly be of the seed of Abraham, our father
(Bezah 32b). It also states that Heaven
grants compassion to those who are compassionate
to others, and withholds it from those who
are not (Shabbat 151b).
In the important ashrei psalm,
recited twice during the morning service,
it states that God is good to all, and that
His mercies are over all of His creatures.
According to Rabbi Dovid Sears, in his book
A Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism
in Jewish Law and Mysticism, this verse
is "the touchstone of the rabbinic
attitude toward animal welfare, appearing
in a number of contexts in Torah literature."
Referring to the Talmudic teaching that
we are to emulate God's ways, he states,
"Therefore, compassion for all creatures,
including animals, is not only God's business;
it is a virtue that we too must emulate.
Moreover, compassion must not be viewed
as an isolated phenomenon, one of a number
of religious duties in the Judaic conception
of the Divine service. It is central to
our entire approach to life."
Ashrei is followed by a number
of psalms extolling God that begin and end
with "Halleluyah." The final psalm
in that grouping ends with, "Let all
souls praise God. Halleluyah! Let all souls
praise God. Halleluyah!" Perek Shira,
"A Chapter of Song," a mystical
hymn dating from the 5th – 7th century
that even today is found in many traditional
siddurs (prayer books) portrays all living
creatures singing their individual songs
in praise of the Creator. The universe is
filled with hymns as cows, camels, horses,
mules, roosters, chickens, doves, eagles,
butterflies, locusts, spiders, flies, sea
creatures, fish, frogs, and many more offer
Biblical songs of praise to God.
This concept is reinforced
by other Shabbat morning prayers. The beautiful
Nishmat prayer begins with: "The soul
of every living being shall bless Your name,
Lord, our God; the spirit of all flesh shall
always glorify and exalt Your remembrance,
our King." Shortly after the Borchu
call to prayer, the Hakol Yoducha prayer
indicates that "All will thank You
and all will praise You … All will
exalt you …" The Artscroll siddur
commentator states, "Thus every facet
of the universe will join in thanking and
lauding God." The Keil Adon prayer
that is generally sang by the chazzan and
congregation together, indicates that God
"is blessed by the mouth of every soul."
What about the statements
in chapter 1 of Genesis that humans are
given dominion over animals (Genesis 1:
28) and that only humans are created in
God's image (Genesis 1:27)? The Jewish sages
interpreted dominion as meaning responsible
stewardship or guardianship. This is reinforced
by the fact that immediately after indicating
that people have dominion, we are given
God's first dietary regimen which is completely
free of animal products (Genesis 1:29) and
we are soon told that our role is to work
the land and also to guard it (Genesis 2:15)
– we are to be "shomrei adamah"
(guardians of the earth).
There is a very powerful environmental
lesson in the second paragraph of the Sh'ma,
one of Judaism's most important prayers:
And it will come to pass that
if you continually hearken to My commandments
that I command you this day, to love Hashem,
your God, and to serve Him with all your
heart and with all your soul – then
I will provide rain for your land in its
proper time, the early rains and the later
rains, that you may gather in your grain,
your wine and your oil. I will provide grass
in your field for your cattle and you will
eat and be satisfied. Beware lest your heart
be seduced and you turn astray and serve
gods of others and bow to them. Then the
wrath of God will blaze against you. He
will restrain the heaven so that there will
be no rain and the ground will not yield
its produce. And you will swiftly be banished
from the goodly land that God gives you.
The message seems clear: if
we put God's teachings into practice and
imitate His ways of mercy, compassion, and
justice, we will have blessings of prosperity,
justice, and peace; however, if we turn
to false modern gods of materialism, egoism,
hedonism, and chauvinism, we will be cursed
with many environmental and other societal
problems.
If more Jews become aware
of the many beautiful Jewish teachings such
as those above and strived to put them into
practice, it would have great potential
to help revitalize Judaism and move our
imperiled planet toward a more just, humane,
and environmentally sustainable path and
a time when "no one shall hurt nor
destroy in all of God's holy mountain"
(Isaiah 11:9).